[Exports_project_office] Proposals for lingering COVID protocol issues

[Ken Buesseler]

Some parts of this seem easy, other harder.  My "easy" part is if Craig, 
Ivona and others are OK with the 1 day relaxation, then I'm fine with 
the same 1 day relaxation for my two students.  With this, Meg is there 
for full MOB and the 2 students only miss one day.

I agree outdoor recreation is trickier.  I'm generally OK with this, but 
had a concern earlier about not waiting 5 days.  The thought was based 
upon the assumption that if we do not allow recreation until after the 
day 5 test results, than someone who is positive on day 5 would be 
identified as someone who picked up COVID during travel, which we know 
is largely out of a travelers individual control.  If we do pick up one 
or more positives on day 5 after starting outdoor recreation on day 1, 
then we will not know if COVID was picked up during travel, or someone 
was not complying with recreation the rules.  I do NOT expect 
non-compliance, but it would be a bad way to start EXPORTS, if a few 
real or false positives come in early on, and the group is second 
guessing how it happened.   This is a social comment, not a medical one.

Again, I'll go with the flow on the outdoor recreation.  We have not 
decided to do this or not in Vigo, as it has not come up as a major 
issue.  FYI, we do have a 15 min one way walk to our two COVID tests in 
Vigo, so joking already about our 2 exercise moments, and more seriously 
about how to stagger tests to avoid a large group dynamic as we head to 
our tests.

Any change on the double bubble issue? Allow few to go between ships but 
only during off hours with clear corridors and control?

Later, Ken

On 2021/04/06 2:02 PM, Craig M. Lee via Exports_project_office wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> We received answers from Guy last night (please review attached email).
>
> Given the data from NOC,  I think we could, in good conscience, allow a 1, or perhaps 2, day shortening of the quarantine for late arrivals. One day is more conservative, two days is the most we could accommodate and still stay within UK guidelines. I think we could justify either, but we need to make it clear to everyone that this is a contingency measure, not a change in policy. Ivona and I favor a 1-day relaxation (which would let Meg exit quarantine with the rest of the science team, and the great students one day later). We can keep the 2-day relaxation in our back pocket, in the event the others suffer from travel delays.
>
> Outdoor recreation is trickier. My understanding is that outdoor recreation would not be in violation of UK policy, so it’s really up to us what we will or will not allow. Guy expresses some concern, but I view it as being very safe. *provided* that everyone complies with social distancing and avoids shops, pubs, restaurants (even just picking up food to go), etc.
>
> If we feel confident in peoples’ ability to comply with rules, then it seems like we just need to set a policy for outdoor exercise. It probably does not have to be terribly prescriptive. Something like:
>
> - Outdoor exercise is permitted, but must be done solo (no gathering in groups)
> - Avoid crowded areas and remain at least 2 m from other people
> - Visits to shops, restaurants, pubs, recreation facilities etc are prohibited. This includes outdoor facilities like food carts and pick-up of to-go orders.
>
> Then we just decide whether we let people outside immediately, or only after the 5-day LFT. The main reason to wait for the 5-day test is if the UK is worried about us bringing infection in, which does not appear to be the case. I propose that we use something like the protocol above and allow immediate outdoor access, but would like to hear from others. I’d also like to run whatever we adopt by Guy before finalizing.
>
> Thanks,
> Craig
>
>
>
> --
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Craig M. Lee
> University of Washington
> Applied Physics Laboratory
> 1013 NE 40th St.
> Seattle, WA 98105-6698
> craiglee at uw.edu
> (206) 685-7656
> (206) 543-6785 (fax)
> http://iop.apl.washington.edu
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
>
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-- 
Ken Buesseler
Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
http://cafethorium.whoi.edu     @Cafe_Thorium
Director, Center for Marine and Environmental Radioactivity
http://www.whoi.edu/CMER        @whoi_cmer
508-289-2309

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